Design Technology
'Design is intelligence made visible' - Alina Wheeler

National Curriculum Aims

The national curriculum for design and technology aims to ensure that all pupils:

develop the creative, technical and practical expertise needed to perform everyday tasks confidently and to participate successfully in an increasingly technological world
build and apply a repertoire of knowledge, understanding and skills in order to design and make high-quality prototypes and products for a wide range of users
critique, evaluate and test their ideas and products and the work of others
understand and apply the principles of nutrition and learn how to cook

The progression of Design Technology through school

Key stage 1

Through a variety of creative and practical activities, pupils should be taught the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to engage in an iterative process of designing and making. They should work in a range of relevant contexts [for example, the home and school, gardens and playgrounds, the local community, industry and the wider environment]. When designing and making, pupils should be taught to:

Design

design purposeful, functional, appealing products for themselves and other users based on design criteria
generate, develop, model and communicate their ideas through talking, drawing, templates, mock-ups and, where appropriate, information and communication technology

Make

select from and use a range of tools and equipment to perform practical tasks [for example, cutting, shaping, joining and finishing]
select from and use a wide range of materials and components, including construction materials, textiles and ingredients, according to their characteristics

Evaluate

explore and evaluate a range of existing products
evaluate their ideas and products against design criteria

Technical knowledge

build structures, exploring how they can be made stronger, stiffer and more stable
explore and use mechanisms [for example, levers, sliders, wheels and axles], in their products.

Key stage 2

Through a variety of creative and practical activities, pupils should be taught the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to engage in an iterative process of designing and making. They should work in a range of relevant contexts [for example, the home, school, leisure, culture, enterprise, industry and the wider environment]. When designing and making, pupils should be taught to:

Design

use research and develop design criteria to inform the design of innovative, functional, appealing products that are fit for purpose, aimed at particular individuals or groups
generate, develop, model and communicate their ideas through discussion, annotated sketches, cross-sectional and exploded diagrams, prototypes, pattern pieces and computer-aided design

Make

select from and use a wider range of tools and equipment to perform practical tasks [for example, cutting, shaping, joining and finishing], accurately
select from and use a wider range of materials and components, including construction materials, textiles and ingredients, according to their functional properties and aesthetic qualities

Evaluate

investigate and analyse a range of existing products
evaluate their ideas and products against their own design criteria and consider the views of others to improve their work
understand how key events and individuals in design and technology have helped shape the world

Technical knowledge

apply their understanding of how to strengthen, stiffen and reinforce more complex structures
understand and use mechanical systems in their products [for example, gears, pulleys, cams, levers and linkages]
understand and use electrical systems in their products [for example, series circuits incorporating switches, bulbs, buzzers and motors]
apply their understanding of computing to program, monitor and control their products.

Cooking and nutrition

As part of their work with food, pupils should be taught how to cook and apply the principles of nutrition and healthy eating. Instilling a love of cooking in pupils will also open a door to one of the great expressions of human creativity. Learning how to cook is a crucial life skill that enables pupils to feed themselves and others affordably and well, now and in later life. Pupils should be taught to:

Key stage 1

use the basic principles of a healthy and varied diet to prepare dishes
understand where food comes from.

Key stage 2

understand and apply the principles of a healthy and varied diet
prepare and cook a variety of predominantly savoury dishes using a range of cooking techniques
understand seasonality, and know where and how a variety of ingredients are grown, reared, caught and processed.

Intent

At Mexborough St John’s, children receive a design and technology curriculum which allows them to exercise their creativity through designing and making. Our design and technology curriculum is designed to prepare children for the developing world. The subject encourages children to become creative problem-solvers, both as individuals and as part of a team. Through the study of design and technology children combine practical skills with an understanding of aesthetic, social and environmental issues, in order to design and make a product, emphasising the importance of designing first to allow changes and developments which aim towards a specific purpose and audience. Evaluation is an integral part of the design process and allows children to adapt and improve their product, this is a key skill which they need throughout their life. Design and Technology helps all children to become discriminating and informed consumers and potential innovators. We feel that the teaching of food and nutrition is of great importance and holds great relevance in current times. For this reason, children will study a food and nutrition unit every year. Learning how to cook is a crucial life skill that enables pupils to feed themselves and others affordably and well, now and in later life.

We intend to show a relatable curriculum that children will makes links to between school and home and explore practical skills that they have experience with through the careers of family members and highlight the importance of these positions in our wider community.

Implementation

There is a clear rationale behind our DT curriculum which is built around essential knowledge, understanding and key skills. These are broken into year group expectations and show clear continuity and progress. Learning is organised into four main areas; Mechanisms and Mechanical Systems, Structures, Textiles and Cooking and Nutrition.

All teaching of design and technology follows the design, make and evaluate cycle. The design process should be relevant in context, to give meaning to learning. While making, children should be given choice and a range of tools to choose freely from. When evaluating, children should be able to evaluate their own products against a design criteria. Each of these steps should be rooted in technical knowledge and vocabulary.

Clear content sequencing, progression maps and knowledge organisers, place this in the context of long-term knowledge growth.

Intelligent repetition of key skills and concepts enables children to strengthen memory over time, thus leading to deeper understanding. It is essential that children remember the knowledge that they have been taught so that learning ‘sticks’ for them to understand new knowledge, make learning links and apply this is different contexts. The core skills of recall, understand, connect, and apply are used to facilitate this.

Early Years

Children make imaginative and complex ‘small worlds’ with blocks and construction kits. They explore different materials freely, in order to develop their ideas about how to use them and what to make. Children safely use and explore a variety of materials, tools and techniques, experimenting with colour, design, texture, form and function. Creations are shared and celebrated with children explaining the process they have used.

Key Stage 1

In Key Stage 1, children evaluate existing products for purpose and audience before planning their own. They make simple sketches and use annotations when considering design choices and can evaluate their products against a simple design criteria. In Year 1 children investigate how to create stable structures. They create simple mechanisms by designing moving pictures containing a slider, lever, pivot or wheel. This forms the basis for work in Y2 when children explore creating movement through the use of wheels, axles and chassis when designing fire engines as part of their Great Fire of London topic. In Year 2 children will also learn simple sewing techniques when creating hand puppets.

By the end of Key Stage 1 children will be aware of the principles of healthy eating (specifically the importance of breakfast and 5 a day) They will know where some of their food comes from and how to prepare a simple dish safely and hygienically.

Key Stage 2

In Key Stage 2 design projects are rooted in real life with relevant contexts giving meaning to learning. Children research designs based on function, appeal and audience. They plan by appropriate methods; annotated sketches, cross-sectional diagrams, prototypes, pattern pieces and computer aided design.

Children build on their knowledge of mechanical systems from Key Stage 1 by learning about different control mechanisms including how to use pneumatics and cam mechanisms. In textiles projects children develop a wider range of stitching techniques, using them to join and embellish materials in the context of purposeful projects.

By the end of Key Stage Two, children will be secure in the principles of a healthy and varied diet. They will know that food comes from different parts of the world, understanding how a variety of ingredients are grown. Children will research, prepare and evaluate a range of savoury dishes including those from other cultures taking into consideration the dietary requirements of their audience.

Differentiation

As the curriculum is supposed to be challenging for all Pupils, some may find this trickier to access. Throughout the teaching sequence ensure learning is differentiated and the Teaching Assistant is deployed at all appropriate points. Bear in mind ideas to include SEND Pupils to ensure they can access learning alongside their peers.

The practical nature of this subject allows a great opportunity for all children, including SEND and work can be presented in more practical ways such as video recording ensuring that literacy needs are not a barrier.

Yearly Coverage

Impact

Pupils’ learning over time, reflects the intended curriculum. The concepts and big ideas provide the schema through which meaning is made and helps to ensure long term knowledge growth. This in turn ensures pupils know more and can do more.

Research shows that repetition of course content leads to sticky learning; the transfer of knowledge from the short term to long term memory. At Mexborough St John’s, we achieve this through regular retrieval practise. Children can speak with confidence about what they have learnt and how they can apply this to other parts of their learning.

Design Technology Progress Model

Please follow the links below to view our Design Technology progress models. These document outline our rationale for sequencing learning in art and how progress happens placed in the context of long-term knowledge growth and skills development.

Year 1 - Fruit Salad / Moving Pictures / Stable Structures

Year 2 - Tortilla Wrap / Fire Engines / Hand Puppets

Year 3 - Bread / Moving Monsters / Mini-greenhouses

Year 4 - Spanish Frittatas / Illuminated Tudor Houses / Book Sleeve

Year 5 - Mini Cakes / Space themed Toys / Bridges

Year 6 - Chilli Empanades / Bird boxes / Teddy bears

Knowledge Organisers

Knowledge organisers are a summary of the key facts and essential knowledge that pupils need about a unit of work or a curriculum subject.

Knowledge organisers can be a valuable tool for both children, staff and parents. Class teachers are usually the ones who write the knowledge organiser, to set out their expectations of what pupils should learn about a topic – and to clarify their own thinking around what is important.

Pupils will review, revise and quiz themselves using their knowledge organisers. They are also useful tools for parents as they make them more aware of what their children are learning how to support them.

Design Technology Knowledge Organisers